“Sajani was right. I am a terrible person.”
So the 616 and Ultimate universes are destroyed in Secret Wars—but not before Peter’s company gets destroyed as seen on the cover of this issue. And I must say, I can’t think of a more apt metaphor for this issue of The Amazing Spider-Man than showing complete and utter wreckage on the front cover.
“The Graveyard Shift, Part Three: Trade Secrets”
“Repossession, Part Three: Nothing Left to Lose”
WRITERS: Dan Slott & Christos Gage
PENCILER: Humberto Ramos
INKER: Victor Olazaba
COLORS: Edgar Delgado
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
COVER ARTISTS: Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Devin Lewis
EDITOR: Nick Lowe
STORY #1: Beginning where the previous issue ended, The Ghost has phased his hand through Sajani Jaffrey’s chest, but she’s still alive, yet barely conscious. Spidey leaps at Ghost and passes through him, then uses his webbing to snag Sajani and pull her through the Ghost and to safety. Spidey also notices the security guard who Ghost ambushed is also still alive. Ghost then tosses several mini-grenades and Spidey shoves Sajani out-of-the-way just as the grenades explode. Over in Peter’s private lab where he keep all his Spidey tech, Anna Maria Marconi tells the Parker Industries staff to call for help once they get outside. The Living Brain also begins to repair itself using Doc Ock’s nanites Anna Maria stored in its body. The Living Brain also detects there are people still trapped above, so Anna Maria, along with Clayton Cole, decide to use Peter’s Spidey tech to go back inside and help, with Clayton wearing the “Big Time” Spidey suit and Anna Maria using one of SpOck’s web-shooters.
Spidey and Ghost continue to fight, with Spidey trying to get answers about who hired Ghost but to no avail. Ghost reveals, however, that he made preparations several hours before he chose to show himself and set off more bombs, causing the roof to collapse and pin Spidey under a reinforced steel beam. Ghost is about to remove Spidey’s mask, but only to be stopped by Anna Maria, Clayton, and the Living Brain. Spidey frees himself and goes off to rescue Sajani and the guard, put not before Anna Maria tosses him his backpack with a change of clothes. Outside, the Ghost is handed over to the authorities, and Peter brings Sajani and the guard to the paramedics. Sajani, however, is furious with Peter for endangering their lives and lying about still making tech for Spider-Man. Anna Maria also reveals to Peter about how she and Sajani were working on the nanotech research without his permission, and when Peter gets angry over this, Anna Maria points out how, since he himself was keeping secrets about being Spider-Man’s tech supplier that not trusting someone “cuts both ways.” Peter apologizes and promises there will be “no more secrets,” but Sajani isn’t convinced, and points out Parker Industries is still in ruins. Peter states it’s just a building and that the insurance will cover it, but the staff points out that since they’ve lost all their equipment as well, they’re back to square one.
STORY #2: Peter goes to Aunt May and Jay Jameson’s place to give them the bad news, when he sees the apartment has been ransacked and both Aunt May and Jay are gone. He also sees the sculpture they bought at the auction is also missing and remembers that it used to belong to the Black Cat. Black Cat, meanwhile, has Aunt May, Jay, and Regina Venderkamp at her penthouse with all of her valuables. Then she pours gasoline all over the floor and sets it on fire. Spidey arrives and tries to reason with Black Cat into freeing her hostages, believing that if she’s trying to reclaim her old life then maybe she’ll listen to him since he used to be a part of it. He even tells her that what she’s doing isn’t like her at all, suggesting that perhaps her luck powers is what’s making her do this. However, Black Cat tells Spidey that Spidey doesn’t know her at all, that he should rescue the hostages himself as she’s made her point—that the old Black Cat is gone, that the new Black Cat lives on her own terms, and she’ll stop anyone who gets in her way—then vanishes. Spidey gets Aunt May, Jay, and Venderkamp to safety. Spidey also tries to explain to Aunt May about Doc Ock taking over his body, but Aunt May forgives him and has no problem with Parker Industries associating themselves with him. Then the comic ends with Black Cat back at the Slide Away, telling her group of super-villains to follow her or else, and that from now on, nothing is holding her back.
THOUGHTS: There are two reoccurring themes in Spider-Man stories, the first being the familiar mantra of “with great power must also come great responsibility.” The second is guilt. Those with even a passing familiarity with Spider-Man know Peter has a tendency to blame himself when something goes wrong. Sometimes, Peter blaming himself is justified, as it reminds us readers that Peter is an imperfect, and thus very human, superhero capable of making mistakes, who takes responsibility for them and tries to make amends. Other stories supporting characters such as Aunt May, Mary Jane, and others remind Peter he really didn’t do anything wrong, and no one could have foreseen what happened. Then there are comics such as this one where everyone blames Peter for everything that’s happened—even for things which are not entirely his fault—and yet the story would have you believe that everyone blaming Peter over whatever bad things have happened are 100 percent in the right.
Such is what were to believe when it comes to the collapse of Parker Industries, or least their corporate headquarters. It was always a given that Peter, as a consequence of Otto Octavious’ actions from Superior Spider-Man, being saddled with his own company was going to result in more problems for Peter than it was worth. Time and again, it’s been suggested in previous issues Peter isn’t CEO material, and that the time he’s been spending as Spider-Man has got in the way of his managing his company and taking care of his employees. Only it’s not Peter being Spider-Man which causes the destruction of the Parker Industries building; instead, what Dan Slott and co-writer Christos Gage would have us believe is that the fault lies with Peter’s decision for his company to develop a super-villain prison, even though earlier issues have suggested this was the right thing for Peter to do.
For example, in the very first scene in which Spidey, as he’s about to rescue Sajani from the Ghost, how Sajani was right about how the super-villain prison was a bad idea because it “made Parker Industries a target for lunatics.” This is even reiterated by Sajani twice within this issue, saying how she told Peter “something like this would happen” and that “he refused to listen to her.” Except Sajani has never said anything of kind until now. Yes, she said developing a super-villain prison was a bad ideas because they were a waste of the company’s time and resources, that it was a “bad business model,” that it was “bleeding heart nonsense,” and that it pointless since super-villains always brake out of prison anyway. But not once has she ever said developing a super-villain prison was a bad idea because it made Parker Industries a target for super-villains. How can Peter blame himself for refusing to listen to Sajani’s “repeated warnings” when she never gave him such repeated warnings?
Even if we’re to
accept the premise that developing a super-villain prison is a bad idea because it puts everyone at Parker Industries in danger, wouldn’t this same logic also apply to Alchemax since they, too, are also in the super-villain prison building business? They are Peter’s competition, after all. Also, one would think a company who create high-tech capture and containment devices for the apprehension and rehabilitation of super-villains being targeted by those very super-villains would actually stress the necessity for such a project. It’s even acknowledged by Anna Maria that Alchemax has something to gain by hiring the Ghost to attack Parker Industries and thus stop them from creating their own super-villain prison, so the need to develop one first should be of greater importance than ever before.
Peter also gets blamed for lying about how he no longer creates weapons and gadgets for “Spider-Man,” even though Anna Maria told him last issue how “no one bought that…not even for a minute,” even going as far as to use this as means to protect Peter’s secret identity. And are Anna Maria and Sajani at fault for not telling Peter about how they were working on Doctor Octopus’ nanotech project in secret and against his direct orders? Of course not! Their lies are depicted as being entirely justified instead of blatant hypocrisy because Peter lied to them and “endangered their lives,” so therefore two wrongs do make a right. What’s more, it’s not Sajani making this argument but Anna Maria, the one who is supposedly on Peter’s side.
As a matter of fact, it’s Anna Maria, not Peter, who we’re meant to see as the hero of this issue. Not only is she depicted by Slott and Gage as always being in the right when it comes to Peter keeping secrets, she’s the one who comes to his rescue and stops the bad guy (with the aid of yet another one of Slott’s own creations, no less). She’s the one, not Peter, who figures out the Ghost was hired by Alchemax to destroy Parker Industries. She’s the one who is behaves calm and level-headed in a crisis, and who is perfectly capable of taking charge of the situation. She’s the one who is clever enough to make believable excuses and lies for Peter even though reprimands him for his dishonesty. Some have accused Slott that, just like he did with Carlie Cooper, was running the risk of turning Anna Maria into another “creator’s pet,” a charge I didn’t take too seriously because, compared to Carlie, Anna Maria wasn’t so typecast and was also extremely likable. But with Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #18, those criticisms are now completely justified, and Slott and Gage have accomplished the unthinkable—turning one of the best new female supporting characters to come along in years into a sanctimonious “voice-of-reason” without any noticeable personality flaws who we’re always supposed to side with by default. No wonder Carlie was written out of the series at the end of Superior Spider-Man, because Anna Maria fulfills the same role, has the exact same temperament, and everything she says and does is always, always “right.”
Speaking of redundancy, we also have Felicia Hardy’s continuing spiral into melodramatic, mustache-twirling (or is it whisker-twirling) villainy as she once again places innocent people into mortal peril via an inferno like she did in Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #3, the difference being she’s the one who started it and did so deliberately. I have said this subplot of the Black Cat becoming evil was far and away the worst narrative direction Slott has taken since the relaunch. After all her ranting and raving about how Spidey “ruined her life” and how she “lost everything she had” and that she was “going to take back was rightfully hers,” what does she end up doing? She essentially says “screw it,” and literally burns up everything she ever had (and nearly kills Aunt May and Jay in the process) as a means of taking back control of her “fate,” right down the cliched “you don’t know me” speech. Thus her whole motive for becoming an evil crime boss has become void, yet Slott and Gage have her continue down the path of becoming an evil crime boss anyways, as the reader is supposed to conclude that an evil Black Cat is a liberated Black Cat. Only this isn’t an act of empowerment—it’s just flat-out stupid. Even if Spidey is correct that the reason Felicia is acting so out of character because of her bad luck powers, the Black Cat has become all but irredeemable at this point.
The only worthwhile scene out of the entire comic is when Aunt May apologizes to Spidey for having lost faith in him because of SpOck’s actions. Still, even though her about-face is justified with Spidey having just saved herself and her husband, it’s a development which still feels far too sudden. It also raises the question about why Peter doesn’t let Aunt May in on the secret again. After all, her having once known her nephew was really Spider-Man is still canon, and therefore Peter knows full well she has no problem with it and won’t die of a heart attack if she does know. With all this issue’s talk about how Peter needs to be more trusting and honest with those he cares about, the one person who he should be honest with and had no reason to lie to is his surrogate mom.
As for the art? Well, what can I say, it’s Humberto Ramos. Yes, his art style allows for more energized and kinetic panels even while his figures are inconsistent and chaotic when it comes to proportion and basic anatomy. However, in the case of this issue, Ramos visuals appear to significantly imporve as you continue through the narrative. Perhaps this is due to both Victor Olazaba and Edgar Delgado’s solid inking and vibrant colors respectively, particularly during the scenes at Felicia’s burning penthouse. Or it could be that one just becomes accustomed to Ramos as one reads along and you don’t notice his quirks until after one goes back and pays closer attention to his work. Whatever the reason may be, I’m not nearly as annoyed by the comic artistically as I am with the comic’s overall plot.
One other aspect about this comic which saps my overall enjoyment of it is that this is the last regular issue of The Amazing Spider-Man as we head into Secret Wars as it’s replaced by Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows for, at least, the next four months. Since we have no idea what changes will be brought about to the Marvel Universe or to Spider-Man, we also have no idea how much, if any, of what happens in this story will even be followed up upon. If this is how the current volume of The Amazing Spider-Man finishes, and if this is also the last incarnation of the 616 Spider-Man, then did this ever, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, end with a whimper instead of a bang.
D
NERDY NITPICKS:
- Okay you comic book science majors, answer me this? We see the Ghost has phased his hand through an almost unconscious Sajani and appears to be holding her up in the air. Yet one panel, later he tells Spidey he’s “not touching her.” Except he wasn’t touching her, then shouldn’t Sajani already be slumped to the ground instead of appearing to be held to the point where her toes barely touch the floor?
- Also, if Ghost phasing through someone causes them to become catatonic because his energy field also “affects a heart’s electrical impulses,” then how is it that Spidey doesn’t lose consciousness when he leaps through him? Also, wouldn’t be even worse for Spidey to pull Sajani through Ghost since it was him phasing his arm through her which nearly killed her in the first place?
- Why do I get the feeling Anna Maria offhandendly giving the Living Brain’s permission to “initiate” the “upgrade potential” it found in the files on the nanites may wind up becoming a big mistake later on? Also, did anyone else notice Anna Maria’s face in one of SpOck’s wrist gauntlets and it was not a reflection? Looks like the Anna Maria AI is still in sleep mode, folks.
- So Spidey is almost knocked out by and is unable to free himself a steel beam…until the plot requires him to suddenly be conscious and free himself from a steel beam. So why do Anna Maria, Clayton, and the Living Brain need to come to his rescue again?
- “[Alchemax is] too smart to leave a trail back to them.” How so, Anna Maria? Thanks to you, the police now have Ghost in their custody, which means he can name the people who hired him. Even Spidey suggested the cops could cut a deal with Ghost for doing just that. All they have to do is show Ghost a bunch of photos of Alchemax employees, tell him “We’ll reduce your sentence if you point to hired you, and besides you get to punish another big bad company,” and bingo! He identifies Tiberius Stone and Mark Raxton. There’s your trail to Alchemax right there.
- “That’s just a building. It’s not Parker Industries is a company, an idea. It’s us.” So I guess Peter is saying corporations are people, then? And here I thought when the Ghost said it, he was mocking some laughable slogan made by pro-big business, pro-one percent, anti-government regulation politicians. I guess this also must mean Peter Parker voted for Mitt Romney in the last Presidential election.
- So Peter recognized the statue Aunt May and Jay bought because he’s seen it during all those time he and Felicia made out at her penthouse. Except they never did make out at her penthouse. They kept breaking into hotel rooms during their whole “masks on friends with benefits” phase, remember? And speaking of which…
- Felicia, your “collection” which you spent “a lifetime acquiring” and then decided to burn up doesn’t belong to you either. It’s all stolen property. Or bought and paid with money you stole. And since Aunt May, Jay, and the Venderkamp woman legally bought and paid for “your things,” they have more of claim to it that you. I guess we can also add “destruction of property” along with theft, kidnapping, arson, and attempted murder among your list of crimes, then.
- Aunt May warns Spidey, “Be careful! That woman’s still in here somewhere.” One panel later, Spidey looks at and directly addresses Black Cat who is standing amid the flames across the room. Which I guess means the smoke from the fire isn’t nearly as thick if Spidey is able to find Black Cat by sight, and Aunt May needs some serious glasses.
- “Boys, in the brief time you followed me, you’ve seen the results.” And what results were those exactly? You taking over a casino from a D-list villain? The blowing up of Parker Industries Electro trap, which not only cured Electro but lead to his capture? You stealing back all your stuff and destroying it along with your penthouse? Oh yeah, I can totally see why a bunch of small-time super-villains can easily get behind you.
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I agree that this issue was definitely not up to par(ker) with what we have as standards. The only justification I will give Slott is that Sajani is a human character, and while she didn’t give repeated warnings of super villains attacking the prison, it does make sense for her to become extremely willing to say “I told you so” because of how much she opposed the prison project. She’s just giving a natural anger reaction to the situation.
Other than that…yeah this issue blew.
Peter is right, actually. Corporations are nothing but the legal form of two or more people, usually in a business venture but there’s also non-profit corporations. The church I serve is a non-profit corporation, and all its land and assets are owned by the membership. In the case of share-holders, thousands of people = 1 corporation.
I still say the dangling plot threads of this are encouraging for them to be followed up upon later
Spider-man has been bad for years Dan Slott’s work drives loyal fans away. I wonder how good the book could do if a good writer could keep loyal fans and attract new ones.
@#4 Lee — Hmm…I wasn’t quite sure if Aunt May and Black Cat had ever met each other before, but now that you mention it, didn’t they cross paths during the whole Unmasking period during Civil War?
@#5 Gareth — But how else are we here at the Crawlspace going to review an issue of Amazing Spider-Man if we don’t read it? 😉
@#6 ryan3178 — Wow, thanks for the explanation behind how the Ghost’s powers work, Ryan. And if you’re working on your doctorate, might I suggest as a possible thesis how current scientific achievements and innovations are bringing the super-powers we see in comics closer to reality, or has that already been done?
@#7 Realspideyfan — Thing is about a “Superior Doc Ock,” it’s pretty apparent Slott has been setting the stage for his return what with what we saw in “Spider-Verse” with the Anna Maria hologram and the nanite project. Not to mention we still have no idea who or what took Doc Ock’s body from his grave?
@#8 Al —
Touche, my good sir! 🙂
@#10 Cheesedique — Well, like anything else, it appears that unless it’s a web-shooter or spider-tracer, Peter only uses it once no matter how practical it is. 😛 Also, as I forgot to mention in my Nerdy Nitpicks, Peter gave the “Big Time” costume to Kaine; remember, Kaine’s Scarlet Spider costume is actually the “Big Time” suit which, due to it’s unstable molecules, has rearranged it’s color patterns. Which of course raises the question how does Peter still have that suit in his secret lab? Did he take it back with him after he found it’s remains in “Spider-Verse” or did he just up and make a new one?
@#11 Dan —
Oh, don’t misunderstand, Dan, I wasn’t suggesting that what Peter was saying was political. What I was alluding to was when the Ghost stated in this issue “If corporations are people, I am a murderer!” What the Ghost said and what Slott wrote was obviously intended to be sarcastic jibe at an actual political statement, and that he hoped the reader would find it to be absurd–but then has Peter give a soliloquy which, if you think about it, is also having him essentially say “corporations are people” and yet it’s intended to be sincere and not a subject of ridicule.
@#14 Polvo Aranha — I absolutely agree, and my use of that quote from the issue was intended to be ironic. Because you’re right–Peter, compared to the folks he employs at Parker Industries, is the most trustworthy, noble person there yet everyone is all but telling him what a terrible person he is.
@#22 Darkspider94 — Well, if you think about it, Secret Wars #1 did kill Sajani off…along with the rest of Peter’s supporting cast.
@#1 RDMacQ — Well, with regards to Dan Slott not tying this issue to Secret Wars or Renew Your Vows, in an interview with CBR, Jonathan Hickman and Tom Brevoort suggested that was optional, even though it was made clear Secret Wars was effectively ending the various creators current comic book runs:
…the general plan, so that I didn’t screw up anybody’s books in the lead up to “Secret Wars,” was jumping everything eight months forward because we could continue to tell the last days of the Marvel Universe in an accelerated and exciting fashion without everybody having to dump all the stories they were already doing in their books.
The only consideration we were asking for was for creators to put a period, an exclamation point, or even a question mark at the end of their run. Then at the end of their books there would be a little teaser with like four or eight months later and everyone looking up and seeing another giant Earth, the Ultimate Earth, hanging low in the sky above New York City.
Some people did that. Some people took it a little bit further. The point of it was always to be accommodating, not to put backend plot points in everybody’s book. I don’t think that would have been fair and I never expected anybody to do that.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/this-is-battleworld-hickman-brevoort-discuss-secret-wars-1
Sure would’ve been nice if we did get something though because it essentially means we’ll have at least eight months worth of Spider-Man stories which will barely be followed up on, if that. Not unless you read Silk, the Spider-Man/Inhuman/All-New Cap Specials, Conway’s Spiral, etc.
Conway is easily writing rings around Slott. He in one issue more effectivly addressed the human emotions Peter would be feelings in response to Spider-Verse and Superior than Slott ever did
*write
“What’s even more shocking is that Conway is even using Peter in his new status quo without it seeming out of character.”
That’s why I’m liking the SPIRAL series so far. Unlike Slott, Conway knows how to writer a competent and mature Peter Parker without making it seem out of character.
What’s even more shocking is that Conway is even using Peter in his new status quo effectively without it seeming out of character at all. He was doing practice business and showing he has learned over the years. In the main book, he acts like he just learned how to not put his shirt on backwards.
The best Spider-man stories of the last few years are the ones Conway is currently doing with the .1 stories. It’s classic Spider-man. It’s a writer who really understands the character and who truly wants the character to be the best he can be.
Slott hates Peter Parker. It’s obvious. Slott’s writing is always a “Peter is horrible at life and my creations are far better and that is why I’m going to crap out a Superior SPider-man redux as soon as possible.”
Can we be done with slott now, the books are at the worst state I can ever remember reading spiderman..
@#37-Hasn’t Spider-Man been far from what he should be for the past 8 years?
Well I’ll say this much, Slott sure made it easy for me to leave. After 37 years of collecting Spider-man, I think I’m done – At least until a different writer is on the title, which if Lowe is to be believed won’t be until sometime after he leaves as editor. This last year or so, the plots and dialogue have been so sub-par that they insult the intelligence. Ramos art looks like bad tattoo parlor artwork. At some point over the last year, I realized that the character of Peter is so far from what he should be that I don’t even feel like I’m reading Spider-man anymore. And now, by ending the latest volume to make way for some big annoying MEGA EVENT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING ™ they’ve made a really easy jumping off point for long time collectors. Their big crossover which I’m sure was designed to boost sales is actually driving me away from wanting to buy anything Marvel is doing. It looks like just a big nostalgia trip to the past. I have no interest in Secret Wars nostalgia, Inferno nostalgia, Spider-Island nostalgia, X-Men 92 nostalgia, ANY of it. So for the next several months, I guess I won’t be buying any Marvel comics at all. Pretty sad really.
The problem is, it does feel like Slott is just writing fan-fiction at this point. He is doing stories on the characters he has either created or ones he loves without question. As much as he or Marvel says he loves Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He has shown he loves the original Peter Parker from the Lee/Ditko days because when he writes about HS Peter. Those stories are more structured and work better. It feels like he is throwing everything at Peter he can with the main goal: “Peter is Charlie Brown always missing the football as it’s yanked away from Lucy.” Lucy is: Avengers, Sajani, Anna Marie, Clayton Cole, Aunt May, Black Cat. Instead of saying that Peter picks himself back up and moves on we have one that keeps going: “Woe is me!” “Everyone is right, I’m a loser.” “Its all my fault, even if a person steps on an ant its my fault that ant is dead.” I loved some earlier Big Time stuff like Death in the Family and Spider Island wasn’t that bad but could have been better but it worked. However, for the last 3 years the book has been about anything but Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Its has been about: “Slott’s amazing supporting cast.” “The Amazing Dr. Octopus as the Superior Spider-Man.” Our favorite of course: “Silk is the best thing ever!” “Black Cat is evil because she can be.” Where in any of that is about Peter Parker as Spider-Man and vice versa? Volume 4 has been some of the worst Spider-Man stories I have read in almost 20 years.
@31 Ah crap you’re right, freaking Wacker still haunts us to this day. And I just skimmed through some Big Time issues and, holy shit, what was I thinking? I must have memory-wiped myself because I can’t remember reading such subpar writing since my last visit to Fanfiction (though, in their defense, there are some damn good stories). And now I remember my last damn Spidey purchase: the Poochie–um, er– Alpha arc. I also remember burning those issues with some satisfaction.
~Lament~
@33 – I suspect that you can be right on that one. Afterall, they have been making the Marvel Universe resemble the movie universe, and we all know that they want Peter Parker/spiderman back in high school (approx 15 years old). After all, they did the same thing to Richard Rider/Nova a couple of years ago…..
As a dedicated Spiderman Fan (and Marvel fan) for the last 40 years, I can’t say that I have been looking forward to any aspect of Secret Wars. It does seem to be a reboot to me, and at minimum, an opportunity to shed 50 years of continuty. I would be willing to bet that Ultimate Peter Parker takes over the main Amazing Book, and that Miles Morales gets his own book too (in addition to All New, All Different Avengers)! I don’t see myself buying more that a couple of Marvel books on a regular basis after Secret Wars.
I never thought that I would see the day that I enjoyed DC Comics more than Marvel, but that has been the case over the last year and a half. Reading all of the Justice League books, Batman books, and Deathstroke (I hate that Marvel killed off Deadpool *again*) With their massive crossover Convergence, they are actually embracing their continuity. Go figure…
I suspect they’re setting up Spider-Man as a legacy character, and planning to use RYV as the retirement of Peter Parker.
Calling it already, Renew Your Vows is gonna suck.
@#30-Dude, under Wacker Slott actually created his fanfiction protagonist the Superior Spider-Man. He wasn’t keeping Slott in check at all. Also Big Time was less than alright. Tri-Corp retread+NO ONE DIEZ!!!!!!!+Urich Hobgoblin=fail.
@29 Well then damn it all to hell. I actually miss Wacker. Guy was… you know… but he atleast kept Slott in check!
Looking back to the beginning of Big Time I’m awestruck at how ASM went from alright, to forgettable, to simply terrible. Even the supposedly good arcs are rather mediocre/bad like Superior and Spider-verse. But the crown jewel has to be these last 18 issues because my GOD! How does it keep getting worse?! And RYV, ohhhhhhhhhh boy! Better keep those pitchforks close guys!
~Lament~
@#28- Because Secret Wars isn’t a Slott written event, that likely doesn’t do anything that he planned out and impacts the series in ways that he doesn’t want but is forced to tie into due to editorial edicts, so therefore there is no lead up, no hints, no tie ins. All the focus is into resolving Slott’s storylines starring his own pet characters, who need one more moment to “shine” before Slott has to write about a character that people actually like but who gets in the way of making his fanfiction canon.
All it took was reading the first page, just the first, and I knew it was terrible. Then it became even beyond terrible after I read that Inhuman crossover featuring Spidey.
Also why the the unholy hell was this issue not a lead up to Secret Wars?
~Lament~
I think the real depressing thing is that it took TWO people to write this!
Like I said, I flipped through it put it down and looked at the CLS manager and he said: “I know, it was bad, really bad but Spider-Gwen is good.”
This is quite possibly one of the worst Spider-Man stories I have ever read. Great artwork but that’s it.
@#23-I hate the recent stuff don’t get me wrong. But lost it? No. Think of all the crap Peter has experienced. Realistically he should’ve had a mental breakdown in the Ditko run. The fact that he hasn’t is partially due to superhuman mental strength and also having loved ones (mostly MJ and May) help him through tough stuff. He DID lose his mind twice in the 90s, once before the clone saga and once after he learned he was a clone but those were circumstances mindblowingly worse than the one’s he’s been through in recent memory.
I’m not saying it’s fine for him to be so nonchalant about his life as he has been since Superior, but I don’t think he would’ve lost his grip at all. He should be angry, stressed and so on, but not over the edge. I literally did an entire essay series charting Peter’s mental health in the 90s if you really want to go into this in more detail.
I am sorry for what happened to you my friend. And I agree that Peter should be more distressed and upset than he has been but again I don’t think he’d be on the verge of a mental breakdown or anything like that.
Now, with the utmost respect to your situation, sometimes some people react differently to the same situations. But I do agree with you Peter shouldn’t be as comparatively upbeat as he has been. You could argue a POSSIBLE response to dying in Superior was he was actually overjoyed at being alive again and wasn’t depressed about it at all, but I find the idea of him being more hurt and upset believable. And it is despicable that, whilst an offhand and cheap moment of comedy given the subject matter, it was in a goddam Spider-Man/Inhumans crossover annual that we got ANY reflection from peter about Superior. And it was a line of dialogue.
I agree with a lot of the rest of what you said though. Again, Slott clearly enjoys pointing out the negative traits of Peter (or manufacturing them for that purpose) moreso than celebrating the positives about him. He’s a guy who’d look at the Ditko run and make a story out of criticising Peter for snubbing his classmates rather than showcasing his never say die attitude or ho awesome he was for providing for his aunt as the man of the house.
I’m at the point where I seriously would accept as piece of goddam fanfiction just TRYING to honestly address how Peter would feel after Superior Spider-Man
I agree, Sajani dying would have been the character finally getting what was coming to her and then Peter finding out all the backhanded stuff she did. Of course he would have still felt guilty about her death either way. After everything Peter has been through the last few years: Peter being “killed” and replaced by Otto. Having MJ leave him, watching several alternate version of himself killed and eaten on by steampunk vampires. Peter should have lost it by now. This is a guy who was buried alive for almost two weeks and when he was free he wanted time with his wife. Peter has an excuse to either lose it or just want to walk away. I mean he has been so much in the last couple of years any other sane person would need some time to get away or be taking out their anger. I’ll get up on my soap box right now. Eight years ago, I went through my fiance cheating on me, losing my job, getting saddled with $8K in debt and even had my pets die. You know what I did? I took a few days off to just get my head around things and I stepped back. I went back to an old job, decided to put myself back into community theatre and go spend time with family. I stepped back a bit to get my head back around things. I made some hard choices to try and get back to some sense of normal but I didn’t just smile and put the best on it. I had to grieve, I had been through so much and it took months before I really felt like myself again. That is what should be happening with Peter right now, he should either lash out or go: “I can’t be Spider-Man right now or I can’t be a doormat.” There is your story and having Peter building himself back up. Instead we get this! I’m sure if a plane crashed in the middle of the desert and made the news. Peter would say that was his fault too. Its too much, this isn’t Peter Parker the Amazing Spider-Man. This is Peter Parker Spineless Moron who can’t tie his own shoes and has to ask permission to use the bathroom from his aunt.
I still can’t believe I’m saying this but why didn’t they let Sajani die? She’s so unlikable… Don’t tell me I’m the only one thinking about it
@17-That is actually encouraging for the idea that Secret Wars won’t be a proper reboot
The plot always demands it, forget any logic or history. Even when said just a panel before as pointed out by May’s talk about the smoke, then magically, there is Black Cat able to be seen. See if Secret Wars is going to work out as it seems as shown during FCBD with All-New All-Different and Uncanny Inhumans. Basically everything is going to be folded together in one single continuity where events still happened but they happened together. IE: Miles Morales still went through everything getting his powers and adventures but Ultimate Peter Parker didn’t die. Just replaced by Otto instead (head hurts just thinking about it). So, that means when September rolls back around, it will be like Amazing Spider-Man 18 just happened an issue ago. Now, Slott can continue with his “Return of Dr. Octopus” story which you know what he is doing. Especially from this issue and Peter will still be acting like an idiot but don’t worry Spider Fans. We have Miles Morales running around in the Nu MU, a character that Slott has said he does not like. As evident during Spider-Verse with how useless the character was used. Even though I am a Miles fan. Either way, Slott needs to tell his final Otto story and then get off of Spider-Man. This issue proves it is time for him to move on, he cares more about his “own characters” than the books main character it is supposed to be about.
So…
…WHO’S READY FOR RENEW YOUR VOWS?[/sarcasm]
Why is Peter only recognizing and remembering now that the statue that May and Jay’s statue was the Black Cat’s? Wasn’t it the centerpiece on the dinner table in the last issue?
I guess the plot demanded it. Again.
Okay, remember when I complained about Spidey being overpowered in Spiral? Forget that. That’s much, much better than seeing him get saved, again, in his own book by two civilians and then have them call him out on how bad he was doing before against Ghost. Clayton using the Sonic Suit was a neat idea, and it was nice seeing it actually being used again, but the context for it happening was just a little too annoying.
I’d forgotten Spidey had a Hall of Costumes. I guess the comparing him to Tony Stark wasn’t as inaccurate as they thought…
I can’t believe Slott is actually getting me to dislike Anna Maria. I never thought that would actually happen. It’s one thing that she seemed a little too perfect as this run went along, but now she has being so annoyingly sanctimonious in this issue working against her. And it all comes at Peter’s expense because she seems so perfect, so “right,” and calls him out on all his problems. Sajani’s even worse, but at least I don’t think Slott has ever portrayed her as a good and sympathetic character like he has Anna Maria.
So…Marvel Universe is dead, and we have all these subplots left dangling and no idea if they’ll ever be resolved. Will Spiral and Silk resolve the Black Cat storyline? Will Avengers 2099 bring a close to the story of Alchemax, or will Miguel’s own book take a stab at doing so? Is this the (hopefully) true end of Parker Industries and the last we’ll ever see it being mentioned?
And I still have no clue what Felicia’s after anymore. Is it about losing her stuff after getting arrested? The stuff that she then burned in a fire? Is it about losing her reputation after getting arrested? Which still doesn’t make a lot of sense when she already had a public identity and criminal record. Was it about reinventing herself? If so, why as a Supervillain Kingpin for D-list Supervillains!?
I agree, all of Peter’s employees are people that given the chance would save their own skin if the need was there and let Peter Parker burn. Even Anna Marie, yeah those are the type of people I want to work with or supervise.
Is it my impression or Spidey has been unable to save himself from super villains throughout the vol.3 of ASM?
“Sajani was right. I am a terrible person.”
I’m sure it ‘s the opposite. Everbody in Parker Industries are either former villains who tried to kill Peter in the past or possible snakes with their own mysterious plans. Peter has very good reasons to not trust any of them.
@#3-We don’t know if 616 is forever gone and the danlign threads may be a sign that things will eventually be picked back up
Geez, this issue was lame. They sidelined Spidey in faovr of giving the spotlight to boring characters like Sanjani and Clayton. Anna Maria was quite likeable in the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #16 and #17, but in this issue she comes off as a smug and spotlight-hogging character. She did most of the important stuff while Peter got his butt handled by the Ghost. Dan Slott needs to stop making Peter look like so damn incompetent all the time!
““That’s just a building. It’s not Parker Industries is a company, an idea. It’s us.” So I guess Peter is saying corporations are people, then? And here I thought when the Ghost said it, he was mocking some laughable slogan made by pro-big business, pro-one percent, anti-government regulation politicians. I guess this also must mean Peter Parker voted for Mitt Romney in the last Presidential election.”
…seriously? The idea that you can rebuild your company because your company is more than the building it’s housed in comes off as political to you?
Okay then.
But I’m honestly not shocked when Slott puts out trash, haven’t been for years. This is gonna be par for the course until he’s gone, and then I feel bad for whomever comes after. They get to spend half their run cleaning up his mess.
Why doesn’t Peter himself ever use the Big Time suit anymore? Seems like that would’ve come in plenty handy against Ghost.
@8
That’s exactly it! There is a major focus on Peter’s negatives. He doesn’t push through it and comes out triumphant in the end. Oh no! Its Super Anne Marie or the character that you hate to hate, Sajani! Hey, look, its Marvel’s newest sensation, Clayton Cole formerly the villain, Clash who has become a hero! Horray! Peter Parker? Eh, he’s a loser who made a deal with the devil and can’t go use the bathroom unless he is told me another hero to do so.
Mike what art thou talketh about? The last true incarnation of 616 Spider-Man was in 2007!
I actually think this story leaves so many thing dangling that it is almost encouraging that things will be picked up upon later so maybe we won’t get a reboot.
I don’t think Felicia is irredeemable at this point. Mind control+a clone+an LMD lets Felicia off the hook.
This issue epitomises a lot of Slott’s take on Peter Parker. He is clearly a writer who wants to point out Peter’s (alleged) negative traits and not celebrate his positive ones. He doesn’t show Peter triumphing and pushing forward in the face of adversity and problems, which is what Lee and Ditko did. He makes Peter into a fuck up who does everything wrong and we should hate him for doing so. Sometimes I doubt he even LIKES Spider-Man, or if he doesn’t he clearly likes criticising him much more.
These last 4 or 5 issues this has felt less and less like a spider-Man book and more like a Dan slotts all-stars. I’m almost hopeful this somehow all leads to (secret war allowing) a superior doc ock book with all these characters slott loves much more than Peter and he will leave amazing alone. It just seems like he rather have his creation which he obviously favors instead of trying to leave his mark on one of if not the best marvel character around. I’d be beyond elated to have him walk away and take all his little pets with him and have someone else take the reins of spidey after secret wars. A man can dream right?
What a train wreck! Seriously, I read this at my LCS and I put it back down and the manager looked at me and said: “Yeah, I know. It’s not worth it.” We went into a long talk about how much Spider-Man has become a supporting cast member of his own book in favor of Slott’s characters because that is exactly what Peter Parker has become. Look at Superior, it was Otto who was really the main star of the book and here its Anna Marie, Clayton and yes even Sajani who save the day even though two of them caused this mess to begin with. Also, since you called out comic scientists and I am working on a doctorate and also have friends in engineering and physics. Let me me explain how the Ghost’s powers work and I will also use Bob Layton history too.
1. The Ghost’s suit allows him to become intangible by shifting his molecules out of synch with reality. He has the ability to shift back to be tangible, its an electric molecular shift that causes a solid body to lose or increase density. Like the Vision.
2. When the Ghost puts his hand in you, he is causing your body to shift into that phase. Direct contact will shock your system similar to a taser gun but here is the difference. When it is put around a major artery like the heart or brain it messes up that electric pattern. Hence it can cause a person to have a heart attack or neural seizure (grand maul). While the brain is more active with electric impulses, a person could recover from just a simple poke. However, if the Ghost does it long enough the brain can hemorrhage and die. Similar to him sticking his hand in your chest.
3. Why the guard was still alive because it was a quick jab and the Ghost moved on. However, with Sajani the Ghost was clearly putting his arm in her and it was long enough before Spider-Man kicked him (Which he should have been able to). Iron Man tried this trick several times, just because the Ghost’s hand is in your chest or passing through a wall, he is still phased. He doesn’t just magically solidify his body as he is doing it. Plus, the Ghost is still apparently housing his circuit transmit powers he took on during Dark Reign and kept during his stint on the Thunderbolts. Yet, he kind of reformed during those days. So forget everything I just said because I care about history.
Now, I will step off my science and comic book history soap box and continue. Speaking of Sajani “I’m so smart” she continues to come off with no repercussions of her actions. Even Anne Marie comes off completely smug in all of this. I can excuse Clayton because this is one character that is used in a clever manner, especially given his history and him using the sonic suit which hasn’t been seen in forever. As you said apparently in Dan Slott’s world: “Two wrongs do make a right.” Peter also continues to take all the blame when nothing was his fault. There is also such a big hole that Alchemax could have been caught in this and really gone done instead. But of course remember, it’s not corporation that are evil, its the people that run them. Remember kids, don’t be like them!
As for Black Cat, just make it stop! Please Secret Wars, let the crashing of the two Earths wipe away all of this misery that is Slott and Lowe’s take that the Black Cat must be evil and we have to like it. Just like Renew your Vows coming up next month had no prelude or story build. It’s just happening because it can and because it will PO us long time Marriage fans. I will take one thing, at least Aunt May trusts Spider-Man again. That was the only good out of this entire story but not for me to spend $4 for this book. Why I put it back.
If Slott is such a terrible writer and distroying the spider-man mythos, why are you guys still rushing out to buy and read every issue the Minuit it’s released? I think the writing is suffering lately too, but there has been some great stories in his run aswell, that’s why it’ll be a few weeks before I get around to picking up my standing order. I’d ony rush out to buy and read something I was loving on the day of release. Stop reading thing you hate!
Doesn’t aunt may and Felicia know each other? The mind wipe only applies to a blur on spidey’s identity not everyone associated with knowing both Peter Parker and spid y
Probably one of the worst ASM vol. 3 issue, if not the worst. I think this is most on the nose, captain obvious dialogue I’ve ever seen Slott write. Black Cat’s speech at the end was just atrociously bad. I still don’t like Ramos art and live in hope that Coipel is on Spidey post-Secret Wars.
I did however get a great chuckle out of reading all of the set up of future stories, that will likely never come to fruition now that 616 is gone.
What a horrible issue. The story structure, direction and characterisation were a complete mess. The storyline also appears to have been written back to front with Slott writing the “It’s all Peter’s fault” bit at the end first and going backwards.
What irked me the most was that the issue was all “set up” despite being the last issue in a major storyline and potentially the last issue of 616 Spider-man? Makes you wonder what Slott is trying to setup, a new Superior Spider-man series co-starring the Amazing Anna Marconi?
Nick Lowe referenced Brand New Day in latest Spider-Mandate article when discussing “Renew Your Vows” so I have absolutely no hope for Peter Parker in the immediate future.
Wow. What a massive train wreck.
Seriously, this was supposed to be “The end of Parker Industries?” This all but feels like Slott was ordered to end it, but tried to leave something that he COULD reclaim it if he wanted to in the near future.
You also got to love the fact that, once again, Peter is sidelined in favor of Slott’s own pet creations. God forbid the star of his own comic be successful and competent. No. He has to be rescued by Slott’s new Mary Sue creation Anna Marie, and his own creation Clayton Cole. AND let’s not forget that Peter HAS to be blamed for everything DESPITE the fact that his entire work was sabotaged by BOTH Sajani and Anna Marie. Because it’s not like Peter didn’t HAVE a good reason for keeping secrets, while Anna Marie and Sajani kept secrets from him for selfish personal reasons. AND you have to love that this was supposedly meant to be the “Return of Peter’s supporting cast” after “being sidelined by Spider-Verse.” Except this wasn’t the return of the supporting cast. It was again more of Slott’s pet creations who’ve been in the book for the past few months.
And do we really still need to keep on the “Black Cat is really, really evil?” kick? Seriously? Slott, you’ve been at this for almost a year now. NOTHING you will say or do is going to convince ANYONE that what is happening to the Black Cat ISN’T the total railroading of her character into being a cardboard cutout of the character that she once was. This is not something that people like. This is not something that anyone accepts. And the sooner that you and Lowe understand that, the more satisfied people will be.
Also, let’s give it to Slott for not even managing to do ANYTHING to lead into Renew Your Vows in ANY conceivable manner. Practically every other Marvel book is doing SOMETHING to lead into Secret Wars, with the last pages showing the other Earth hanging in the sky. But not Slott. Renew Your Vows is perhaps the most well known event at Marvel OUTSIDE of Secret Wars itself, but you wouldn’t know it if you read Amazing Spider-Man. I have a feeling that “Renew Your Vows” should at least be subtitled “Editorially mandated and promoted, because the writer couldn’t be bothered to do anything to lead up to it himself.”
As I said elsewhere, it’s not whether or not the marriage is coming back that concerns me. It’s the fact that it’s SLOTT who is writing it, and he’s been getting worse and worse. Spider-Verse was the thing he was the most passionate about, and that was absolute garbage. I’m not worried about the outcome of Renew Your Vows. I’m worried that it will be as bad if not worse than the stories we’ve been getting from Slott all year, and given Slott’s track record so far that seems to be more likely than not.